The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

The War For Kindness

Jun 22, 2020

Mina Cikara, a Harvard psychologist studying intergroup bias, and Jamil Zaki, a Stanford professor and author of "The War for Kindness," dive into the darker aspects of group identity and conflict. They discuss the escalating dangers of biases, especially in sports rivalries and societal divisions. The duo emphasizes empathy as a powerful tool for fostering connection in a fractured world. They also explore how sharing personal narratives can bridge ideological gaps, encouraging kindness as a remedy to hatred.

35:01

Creator website

Episode guests

Jamil Zaki

Mina Cikara

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Episode notes

Intro

2min

The Dark Side of Sports Rivalries

13min

Fostering Empathy in a Divided World

5min

The Benefits of Empathy: A Disappearing Trait

2min

Cultivating Empathy: Strategies for Connection and Understanding

5min

The Power of Personal Narratives

13min

Mindfulness in Choices and Financial Empowerment

2min

Feeling you belong to a group can be great - but it also has a darker side, leading us down an unhappy path of hatred and violence towards people with different identities and backgrounds.

Dr Laurie Santos talks to Mina Cikara - whose homeland descended into a bloody civil war - and Jamil Zaki about how we can fight hatred with empathy, kindness and difficult conversations.

(Deep canvassing clips courtesy of The Leadership Lab https://leadership-lab.org/ at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.)

For an even deeper dive into the research we talk about in the show visit happinesslab.fm

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